The Face of Jane Austen

A waxwork likeness of Jane Austen was unveiled at the Jane Austen Centre on Wednesday in Bath, England.

A former FBI forensic artist, Melissa Dring, used the Cassandra Austen's sketch of her famous sister as the starting point for the waxwork. She also used diaries, letters and other contemporary accounts of Austen's appearance. Mark Richards, a sculptor, took Dring's final findings and created the waxwork itself.

It's a very nice life-like waxwork, and I, along with many Jane Austen fans, find it interesting to see what these artists think Jane may have looked like.

Anna Chancellor, who played Caroline Bingley in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice is actually a direct descendant of Jane Austen's brother, Edward. Do you think there's any "family resemblance"?

There's a waxwork of Jane outside the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, and it's very different from the new waxwork that is supposed to be the closest "anyone has come to the real Jane in 200 years" (according to a spokesman for the Centre). I took the picture below during my first trip to Bath in 2010.

On the Town: On the Streets of New York, New York

The video below is the opening number from the Broadway revival of the musical, On the Town. The musical is returning to Broadway in September, and they filmed the opening number, "New York, New York," to promote the show. I love that they actually filmed the number throughout New York City. You'll have to watch the 1949 film to see how closely they recreated the opening number from that movie.

I have pictures from my recent trip to New York of the many of the places where they filmed this number.

Central Park

Bethesda Fountain - Central Park

Little Italy

One World Trade Center - from a yacht

Steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Radio City Music Hall

Musician in Central Park

Atlas - Rockefeller Center

Empire State Building

On the Town will be playing at the Foxwoods Theatre. When I was in New York in June, the marquee for Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark was still up, even though the show closed in January.

Times Square

I will most certainly be posting more photos from my New York trip soon.

The 12th Doctor is Coming!

We now have a date for the return of Doctor Who, and the Doctor will have a new face. Season 8 will premiere on August 23rd on BBC America. I can't contain my excitement!!

It's always hard to let go of a Doctor you've grown to like. I remember when I first saw the 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) regenerate into the 10th Doctor (David Tennant). I was not prepared at all. I didn't know that Christopher Eccleston would not return for a second season, and I wasn't ready for a new Doctor. I had never seen David Tennant before, and I was so disappointed that "my Doctor" was gone. Of course I grew to like David Tennant as the Doctor, and by the time I knew that Matt Smith would take over the part from Tennant, I had prepared myself for the change, though I was sad to see David Tennant leave. Even though Matt's Doctor was very different from Eccleston's and Tennant's Doctors, I grew to enjoy his take on the Time Lord, and it was hard when it came time to say goodbye to him.

However, I am extremely excited to meet the 12th Doctor. I'm curious to see what Peter Capaldi will bring to the role, and I'm hoping for some great episodes. Even though I am a huge fan of the actors who played the 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors, I am an even bigger fan of Doctor Who itself. I'm glad that the creators of Doctor Who decided in the 1960s that one of the characteristics of a Time Lord was the ability to regenerate, so that even if the actor playing the titular character decides he would like to move on professionally that the series will still go on.